'Today Is A Day Of Mourning': Remembering The Victims Of Spain's Terror Attacks

People gather around a single rose laid on the ground of Las Ramblas in Barcelona on Friday, observing one minute's silence for the victims of the terrorist attack.

Carl Court
/ Getty Images

Originally published on August 18, 2017 4:45 pm

Updated at 5:17 p.m. ET

As the chaos of the past 24 hours settles in Spain, a clearer picture of the human cost in Barcelona and Cambrils is beginning to emerge — and one thing, at least, is becoming more apparent by the hour: Spain's deadliest terror attack in more than a decade claimed lives and damaged others from just about every continent.

At least 13 people were killed and more than 100 were injured Thursday when a driver mowed down the crowds that regularly throng Barcelona's Las Ramblas boulevard, a destination popular with tourists. Among the dead is one American citizen, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed Friday without identifying the victim.

American Jared Tucker's father later said in an interview with ABC's Bay Area affiliate that he believes his son was killed in the Barcelona attack. Jared Tucker, who went missing Thursday, had been with his wife on a honeymoon they'd delayed for a year, his father said.

"We express our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of this individual," Tillerson said, noting the State Department is still working to confirm whether more U.S. citizens were hurt or killed in the attacks.

Local law enforcement say one person was also killed in a related attack in the early hours Friday in Cambrils. Five men plowed their car through a roadblock in the coastal resort town southeast of Barcelona, hitting several pedestrians before finally flipping the vehicle and dying in a shootout with police.

In all, Catalonian authorities say the dead and injured were from at least 34 countries — from Belgium to Australia, from Taiwan to Argentina.

Here is what we know so far about the people killed in the attacks. We will continue to update this post throughout the day as more information emerges.

Italy

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni confirmed Friday that two of his country's citizens were killed in the attacks, Bruno Gulotta and Luca Rossa.

"Even for Luca, a moment of serenity turned into death, brought on by terrorist killers who act indiscriminately," tweeted Luca Zaia, president of Rossa's native region Veneto.

According to local Italian media, the young man was an engineer who had recently graduated university. He was reportedly vacationing in Barcelona with his girlfriend, who was also hurt in the attack but avoided serious injuries.

In Russo's final public Facebook entry, he posted an adage written in chalk: "We are born without bringing anything, we die without taking away anything. And in the middle, we argue for something."

Gulotta, too, was on vacation in Barcelona with his partner and two young children, one of whom is just 7 months old, his boss told the Italian publication La Repubblica. The paper reports he had been walking on Las Ramblas with his family when he was struck by the terrorists' van.

It was only after hours of attempting to reach him that the editor of the tech company where Gulotta worked, Andrea Ferrario, connected with someone who know what happened — and learned the terrible news.

"Today is a day of mourning," Gulotta's company, Tom's Hardware, said in a statement posted to Facebook Friday. "We embrace his partner Martina and his two children."

"We identify with Martina, a young mother showing strength in the face of something no one should ever have to bear. We put ourselves in the shoes of little Alessandro, who is preparing to start elementary school knowing that his life and that of his family will never be the same. And we think of little Aria, who doesn't understand what has happened but will never know his father."

Belgium

Belgian authorities confirmed Friday that Elke Vanbockrijck, a mother of two young sons, was killed in the attack Thursday on Las Ramblas.

In a statement posted to Facebook, the soccer club where her two boys played, KFC Heur Tongeren, said she was "often at the club and was committed to our club."

"She was not negative. She was always positive," team President Arnould Partoens told The Associated Press over the phone, adding that the team planned to hold one minute of silence to honor her memory before every practice and game this weekend.

"We will always remember her as a happy woman, a caring mother and loving wife," the club said in its statement. "Elke will be missed."

United States

While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did not immediately identify the American killed in the attack, Bay Area resident Dan Tucker later said that it was his son Jared who had died. Member

Jared Tucker's family "knew he was over on vacation" in Barcelona with his wife, Heidi, his father said. The ABC affiliate reports Jared and Heidi had been married a year ago; their trip to Paris and Barcelona was their long-delayed honeymoon.

As they learned of the attack, Dan Tucker said "our first concern was, 'I wonder where Jared is?' "

Hours of uncertainty followed, as the family struggled to ascertain his whereabouts. Tucker's father told the TV outlet they learned the tragic news Friday morning.

"I'm not angry so much as I don't understand it," Dan Tucker said, voice breaking. "My wife's in shock. It's a lot harder on her. ... She's just having a really hard time."

Spain

A woman who reported her uncle missing Thursday confirmed hours later that he had been killed on impact when he was struck by the van in Barcelona. Catalonian media say the man, identified as Francisco López Rodríguez, lived close to the city.

Raquel Baron Lopez said her aunt was also hospitalized after the attack.

The injured

The French victims among the injured number at least 26, according to a statement by France's foreign affairs minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, who added that at least 11 of them are seriously injured.

Meanwhile, Germany's foreign office says at least 13 German nationals were injured in the attack — "some of them seriously, so seriously that they are still fighting for their lives," says foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer.

Four Australian nationals were also wounded in the attacks — two of whom with serious injuries, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed. She added that one Australian also remains unaccounted for.